Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World
American military bases encircle the globe with nearly a thousand locations in foreign lands. These bases are usually taken for granted or overlooked entirely, but in an eye-opening account, Base Nation shows that the worldwide network of bases brings with it a panoply of ills-and actually makes the nation less safe in the long run.



As David Vine demonstrates, the overseas bases raise geopolitical tensions and provoke widespread antipathy towards the United States. They also undermine American democratic ideals, pushing the U.S. into partnerships with dictators and perpetuating a system of second-class citizenship. They breed sexual violence, destroy the environment, and damage local economies. And their financial cost is staggering: though the Pentagon underplays the numbers, Vine's accounting proves that the bill approaches $100 billion per year.



With the U.S. withdrawing from Afghanistan and ending thirteen years of war, there is no better time to re-examine the tenets of our military strategy. Base Nation is an essential contribution to that debate.
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Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World
American military bases encircle the globe with nearly a thousand locations in foreign lands. These bases are usually taken for granted or overlooked entirely, but in an eye-opening account, Base Nation shows that the worldwide network of bases brings with it a panoply of ills-and actually makes the nation less safe in the long run.



As David Vine demonstrates, the overseas bases raise geopolitical tensions and provoke widespread antipathy towards the United States. They also undermine American democratic ideals, pushing the U.S. into partnerships with dictators and perpetuating a system of second-class citizenship. They breed sexual violence, destroy the environment, and damage local economies. And their financial cost is staggering: though the Pentagon underplays the numbers, Vine's accounting proves that the bill approaches $100 billion per year.



With the U.S. withdrawing from Afghanistan and ending thirteen years of war, there is no better time to re-examine the tenets of our military strategy. Base Nation is an essential contribution to that debate.
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Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World

Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World

by David Vine

Narrated by Jonathan Yen

Unabridged — 13 hours, 46 minutes

Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World

Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World

by David Vine

Narrated by Jonathan Yen

Unabridged — 13 hours, 46 minutes

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Overview

American military bases encircle the globe with nearly a thousand locations in foreign lands. These bases are usually taken for granted or overlooked entirely, but in an eye-opening account, Base Nation shows that the worldwide network of bases brings with it a panoply of ills-and actually makes the nation less safe in the long run.



As David Vine demonstrates, the overseas bases raise geopolitical tensions and provoke widespread antipathy towards the United States. They also undermine American democratic ideals, pushing the U.S. into partnerships with dictators and perpetuating a system of second-class citizenship. They breed sexual violence, destroy the environment, and damage local economies. And their financial cost is staggering: though the Pentagon underplays the numbers, Vine's accounting proves that the bill approaches $100 billion per year.



With the U.S. withdrawing from Afghanistan and ending thirteen years of war, there is no better time to re-examine the tenets of our military strategy. Base Nation is an essential contribution to that debate.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER

“A useful call to examine a question that gets far less attention than it merits… An entreaty for an explanation, a discussion in plain language, about what the U.S. military is doing in so many places in the world and why.”

—The Washington Post

"U.S. national security policy rests on the assertion that 'forward presence' contributes directly to global peace and security. In this powerful book, David Vine examines, dismantles, and disproves that claim. He demonstrates that America's sprawling network of overseas bases imposes costs—not only financial but also political, environmental, and moral—that far exceed what the Pentagon is prepared to acknowledge. Base Nation offers a devastating critique, and no doubt Washington will try to ignore it. Citizens should refuse to let that happen.”

—Andrew J. Bacevich, author of Limits of Power and Breach of Trust

“Who knew that we have more than eight hundred bases around the world? And what do our troops do there when they're not busy intruding into other people's conflicts? Such questions lie at the heart of David Vine's remarkable, impeccably written, and clearheaded analysis of the costly madness that is America's current colonial-military complex. His book is a marvel, and all in power should read it.”

—Simon Winchester, author of Atlantic and The Men Who United the States

“Just looking at the maps in David Vine's thoroughly documented Base Nation will give you the chills—and seduce you into reading the book. He's performed a kind of modern day treasure hunt, finding and displaying our military forces all over the globe, and then thinking deeply about whether their far-flung presence will achieve or undermine the goal of fostering a peaceful and prosperous world.”

—Dana Priest, coauthor of Top Secret America

“While I may not share all of David Vine's conclusions, Base Nation amply demonstrates what a growing number of people across the political spectrum are concluding: the foundation of our military belongs right here on American soil. In the U.S. Senate, I pushed for greater investment in our bases here at home where our forces have greater unrestricted training opportunities and can rapidly deploy worldwide better prepared for combat. Pentagon officials and members of Congress should pay close attention to Vine's arguments in favor of reducing our foreign presence in the interest of strengthening the future security posture of U.S. military forces and the fiscal health of our nation.”

—Kay Bailey Hutchison, former U.S. senator (R-TX) and chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee for Military Construction

From the Publisher - AUDIO COMMENTARY

"Vine recommends comprehensive shutdowns, and his presentation is eloquent and persuasive." —Publishers Weekly Starred Review

Kirkus Reviews

2015-05-06
America's seldom thought of, and largely misunderstood, military outposts around the globe are brought into sharp relief. The idea that it costs more than $100 billion each year to maintain the United States' roughly 800 military installations spread throughout the world is easy enough to grasp, and there are many who will say that the hefty price tag is well worth the cost. However, Vine (Anthropology/American Univ.; Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia, 2009) effectively argues that the true costs of all those bases—whether euphemistically called FOBs, lily pads, or a host of other monikers—encompass a lot more than what is in Uncle Sam's wallet. Ostensibly meant to protect American security at the close of World War II, Vine demonstrates how both the rationale behind the rise of U.S. military bases abroad and their implementation run counter to many closely held American ideals. Readers on the left will be particularly chagrined to learn that liberal lion Franklin Roosevelt orchestrated a plan that regurgitated and repackaged old-time colonialism in the name of national security. The author also illuminates the series of forced evacuations, expulsions, and evictions that devastated whole societies all across the Pacific, Latin America, and beyond, and he shows how little the government had learned after the Trail of Tears 100 years prior. Citizens could still wave the flag and extoll democratic principals here at home, but Vine further demonstrates how they did so oblivious to the autocrats that continued to fill the upper tiers of the American military. The powers that be may have successfully swept many previous sins under the carpet in the wake of World War II, but according to Vine, continuing to maintain U.S. military bases around the world doesn't make any sense in a post-9/11 world. A frank, significant look at how the proliferation of foreign military bases has "helped lock us inside a permanently militarized society that in many ways has made all of us less safe and less secure."

Product Details

BN ID: 2940171096038
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication date: 08/25/2015
Edition description: Unabridged
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